The walls are painted, the signs are up. (Kristen Browning-Blas, The Denver Post)

The first Voodoo Doughnut[1] location outside of Oregon, in Denver at 1520 E. Colfax Ave., will open “absolutely in 2013,” says co-founder Kenneth “Cat Daddy” Pogson.

I checked in with the dough mogul to see how construction on the 2,800-square-foot store[2] is going. He is a little hesitant to announce an opening date, partly because you never know with construction projects, and partly because Voodoo fans can be, shall we say, avid in their anticipation.

The last time they opened a new Voodoo Doughnut shop (in Eugene, Ore., in 2010)[3], people gathered outside, chanting “WHEN WHEN WHEN,” says Pogson. “There was one guy who walked by every day and banged on the door, “Where’s my cream doughnut?!'”

So, Denver, be cool, okay? You’ll get your Colfax Creams in due time.

“We’ve been working on Denver for almost three years now,” says Pogson. “It was good to wait for the mojo.”

The neighborhood is feeling the mojo, too. At the medical marijuana dispensary on the corner, Nature’s Cure III[4], “bud-tender” Ebony Williams jumps up and down at the mention of the new neighbor. “I love doughnuts, I can’t wait until they open,” she said clapping her hands together. “Our clients will come here and get their meds and then they’ll get really hungry and go over there and get bacon-covered doughnuts.”

On the other side of the hot-pink storefront, bar owner Jody Bouffard says it’s about time there was a doughnut shop on Colfax. “There hasn’t been one in the 16 years I’ve been living and working along this street,” says Bouffard from the pink and bar interior of her Blush & Blu Coffee Bar and Lounge[5]. “It’s gonna bring a ton of foot traffic and money here. There’s no worse-case scenario for the neighborhood.

Pogson says the plan is to quietly test the doughnuts and open a couple of hours a day at first. Then, “we want to push as fast as we can to be open 24 hours,” says Pogson. The Voodoo process takes 8 to 12 hours, so why not be open all the time, he says.

Meanwhile, Pogson urges eager fans to keep things in perspective, like he tells his staff.

“It’s just sugar and bread — let’s just be thankful we have 100 people in line.”